Naruto: Mage Nin
by Korraganitar the NightShadow
Summary: After being chased by a mob into an abandoned part of Konoha, Naruto discovers an Intelligent Device and learns the ways of magic. Watch Naruto as he takes the ninja world by storm as the first and only Mage Nin. Pairing Undecided.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I'mmmmmm back!!!!!!!!!! I know some of you have missed me these long years! Others of you probably couldn't care less. I recently watched all of Lyrical Nanoha, and its magic system just called out to me. So now we get to see what would happen if Naruto came across an Intelligent Device and learned the ways of magic as a result. As for my other fics… I hope to get back to those soon, even sooner depending on how things go with this fic. And now, without further ado I give you:**

Naruto: Mage Nin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mahou Shojou Lyrical Nanoha… if I did then Itachi wouldn't have died like he did, and there would be another season of Nanoha out already.

"talking"

'thinking'

'_telepathy/mindspeak'_

"_Device Speaking"_

"**Demon talking"**

'**demon thinking'**

Prologue: Discovery

It was a calm and quiet day in Konoha. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, various ninjas of various ranks were receiving and doing missions, the civilians were going about their business. Yes, everything was business as usual for the people of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"Get back here you demon brat!"

Yes… everything was business as usual. Even as much as some people wished it wasn't.

Nine year old Naruto was running as fast as he could, desperately trying to avoid being caught by yet another mob of drunken villagers. All he had been doing was minding his own business, walking through town on the way to see the old man Hokage, when suddenly he was being chased by a bunch of drunks who kept on yelling nonsense about how he had ruined all of their lives. It made no sense! Sure he occasionally pulled a prank on people who were mean to him, but he was sure that that didn't mean he had ruined any of their lives! Hell, he was sure that there were people in the mob that he had never done anything to at all! 'At least,' he mused to himself, 'it can't get any worse than this.'

A Kunai thrown from the mob sliced his arm as he ran, showing him just how wrong he was. After all, ninja chasing him was much worse than just villagers.

Putting on an extra burst of speed as adrenaline kicked in from the pain, Naruto continued to run from the mob, trying desperately to use his accumulated knowledge of the back ways of the village to lose his pursuers. He did have some success, losing parts of the mob, but a small core of shinobi kept on his tail no matter where he went, and as the chase went on, more and more shinobi seemed to join in behind him. Frankly, he was amazed that he hadn't been caught yet, but he knew it couldn't last. He was tiring fast, and several cuts on his arms and legs were bleeding and slowing him down.

In a desperate move, Naruto started leading his pursuers towards the oldest part of the village, where the buildings were more broken down and several of the trees from the larger training grounds had begun to move in. He didn't know his way around the area like he did the more populated parts of the village, but he didn't think that the shinobi chasing him did either, and the few times he had been in that part of Konoha he had noticed plenty of places that someone small like he was could squeeze into. He knew that if he could get away from the people chasing him, he could find someplace safe to hide and heal.

Naruto made good progress, and it wasn't long before he was passing old, dilapidated buildings that hadn't been lived in for a while. He knew why too. This was the part of the village that was closest to where the Kyuubi had reached when it had attacked seven years before. Nobody wanted to live in the place where so many had died, where the death toll had been the greatest in the village, and with the funds needed to rebuild the village and maintain its security being so tight in the aftermath, the old district was left to be overrun by nature.

Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to Naruto, entering into the old district seemed to have infuriated the people chasing him, as they began to throw many ore kunai and shuriken than they had before, albeit with slightly less accuracy. Still, with the weight of the bombardment being sent at Naruto, it was inevitable that he would eventually be hit, and he was. As he neared the very center of the old district, a lucky kunai hit him right in his left ankle. Naruto cried out and stumbled as pain shot through him. In desperation, he used his remaining momentum to throw himself into a nearby alleyway, hoping against hope that there would be someplace for him to hide. He was in luck. There, at the end of the alley, only visible from the ground, twenty feet from where he had fallen, was a hole in an otherwise solid wall, just big enough for him to fit. Summoning the last reserves of strength that he had, he started a frantic crawl towards the opening.

He kept on crawling even as he heard the thumps on the ground behind him that signified the arrival of his chasers. He could only hope that they would make the mistake of drawing out their victory long enough for him to escape into the hole.

"Well, well, look what we caught," gloated a shinobi, the one who had been chasing him the longest out of the group. "A cornered fox, all alone, with no one to help him." Naruto heard them chuckling behind him, but kept moving, praying to whatever being was out there listening that they hadn't seen the opening he was crawling towards. "Looks like he's trying to crawl to the end of the alley, doesn't it? Well maybe we should give him a hand!" The lead ninja said before rearing back his leg and punting Naruto across the alley.

Naruto gasped in pain as he was kicked, hearing a distinct crack on impact. When he landed he let out a pained howl, as he felt the kunai that was still in his ankle get shifted by the weight of his impact. The world spun in a pained haze for a few moments, before settling in an image that gave Naruto hope despite the great amounts of pain. The idiot had kicked him right over to the opening in the wall! Escape was at hand!

Fighting against the pain that shot throughout his body Naruto dragged himself to the hole. As he reached it and had his hand in the hole he heard the ninja leader say to his comrades, "Let's put him out of his misery!" Not daring to stop, Naruto pulled with all the strength he had left. Just as he entered the hole and began to slip down a slope towards who knew where, he heard an exclamation of "Katon: Gokyaku no Jutsu!"

As fire filled the alley he had only just barely escaped, the last of Naruto's strength gave out, and he fell unconscious. Unseen by all, his body slid down a steep slope, falling into darkness.

_Several hours later:_

Naruto awoke slowly, feeling the pain of his wounds receding as he did so. He was in total darkness when he opened his eyes, and he didn't have the slightest clue where he was, but at least he had escaped. He sighed with relief as he pulled himself up, grateful that he had the ability to heal so quickly.

He sometimes wondered about where it came from, that maybe it had something to do with why the villagers hated him so much, but, as the years had gone by and his young mind was forced to mature faster than could be considered healthy, he never thought for a moment that he would be better off without it. After all, he was sure that simply being able to heal fast was not the whole reason why he was hated, and without his fast healing he would have died several times in his life already. He had seen dead people, lifeless eyes staring vacantly at nothing, and he was slightly terrified of becoming like that.

Deciding he had lingered in the same place long enough, Naruto stood up. Quickly checking and confirming that all of his wounds were, in fact, healed, he began to feel his way along the wall of the passage he was in, moving away from the end of the slope that he had slid down and which he knew he would not be able to get back up even if he was able to see where he was going.

Naruto wasn't entirely sure how long he walked through the tunnel, but he was able to figure out two things. First off, he was pretty sure that the tunnel he was in was man-made, as he had never been in any natural cave with such a smooth floor and walls. Second off… he was lost. Very, very lost. Unfortunately, in the dark he couldn't be sure if he was nearing an exit, passing by important maps, or even if he was going in circles. It was just getting to the point where Naruto was genuinely worried that he might be lost in the tunnels forever when he noticed a faint light from up ahead. It wasn't much, but it was there, and better than blundering around in the dark!

Moving slowly at first, but with more and more urgency, Naruto made his way to the light. As he approached it the details of the tunnel he was moving in became visible, revealing walls and a floor made of a silvery material that Naruto hadn't ever seen before. With his way visible, Naruto broke into a run, no longer worried about falling over in the dark. In no time he entered the room from which the light was shining. What he saw stopped him in his tracks and left him speechless.

The room Naruto had stepped into was a large circular chamber at least a hundred feet in diameter. The edges of the room had a number of screens, some of which were black and lifeless, others which displayed a large amount of text unrecognizable to Naruto. Set high in the wall high above were a number of glowing blue orbs that were the source of the light that had drawn Naruto to the room. None of these drew Naruto's attention for more than a minute compared to what was in the center of the room.

On a raised dais in the center of the room was a silvery pedestal, and on that pedestal was a jewel that glowed with a bright green light. It was intricately cut, and pulsed with a rhythm that echoed somewhere deep within Naruto calling out to him. Without consciously thinking about it he began to walk toward the gem which pulsed faster as he got closer. As he stepped onto the raised dais a complex green pentagram array appeared beneath his feet. Naruto barely noticed this as the gemstone in front of him absorbed all of his attention. Now that he was closer he saw that it was attached to a chain necklace. Naruto was mildly surprised to find that the gemstone wasn't being held up by anything, instead floating about a foot over the top of the pedestal.

As Naruto reached out to touch the stone the pulsations reached a fever pitch before resolving into a steady glow as he closed his hand around it. Slowly he pulled it back to himself, not sure what to expect, the strange compulsion that had made him grab the stone gone. Whatever he had expected, it was not what he experienced next.

The gemstone pulsed once, before a voice came out of it. "_Connection to linker core complete, awaiting orders."_

Naruto jumped a bit startled, and looked around to see if someone had entered the room and said that, but confirmed that he was in fact still alone. Having no better guess he turned to the gemstone in his hand.

"Ano… did you say that?" he asked, feeling slightly foolish.

"_Yes, master. Awaiting orders." _It replied with another pulse of green light.

Naruto was surprised at receiving an answer, but he was nothing if not adaptable. After the things he had experienced in his short life it was necessary. First things first; he wanted some answers.

"What are you? Why am I your master?" he asked.

The stone replied, _"My designation is Dauntless Might. You are my master because you are the mage whose linker core I have established a connection with."_

That answered those questions, but raised so many more. Realizing that all of this might take a while, Naruto took a seat on the no longer glowing dais.

"Ok, first off, now that I know what you're called, just what _are_ you?"

"_Apologies master. I assumed that you knew what I am. I am what is known as an Intelligent Device. It is my purpose to aid my master by acting as a focus for his magic as well as enhancing his offensive and defensive abilities and providing additional options in and out of combat."_

That sounded… interesting to Naruto. While he didn't have much idea what a mage was and he didn't know anything about magic, he had obviously found some kind of weapon. Maybe this could help him in becoming a ninja! But first…

"Umm, Dauntless Might? What's a mage?"

The device didn't miss a beat. _"A mage is one who, through the use of their linker core, draws upon the extra dimensional energy commonly referred to as magic. This energy is used for a variety of purposes, including powering technology, transportation, the sealing of dangerous items, and combat."_

Now that answer _really_ caught Naruto's attention. Being a mage sounded… cool! Of course, he had no idea how to do any of that stuff, but maybe…

"Dauntless Might, can you teach me how to be a mage?"

"_I am programmed with information on the basics of magic use, though I am not programmed with any teaching abilities. I apologize master."_

"It's fine Dauntless Might! If you can display the information somehow for me, I'll learn it no matter what! But first… do you know the way out of here?"

"_Yes, master. Please follow my directions to the nearest exit."_

As Naruto left the room, guided by the directions of his new companion, he had no idea just how much his life would be affected by the discovering the Intelligent Device, Dauntless Might.

* * *

Next Chapter: 5 years later, the day of graduation and the scroll incident… oh how things change.

**A/N: well, first chapter I've written in… 3 years now? Holy shit I've been off my game. I know that some of you might worry I won't finish this, but I promise, I'll at least get past the wave arc… if I go on to the chunin exam arc and beyond depends on if people actually like this fic. Regardless, please review!**


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: so yeah, I'm back again. I can't tell for sure if I'm back to stay, but I at least have this one offering for you all, longer than my norm at that. Maybe with finals nearly over and the summer looking clear this will be a new trend… I certainly hope so. In any case, enjoy!

Naruto: Mage Nin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mahou Shojou Lyrical Nanoha… if I did then Itachi wouldn't have died like he did, and there would be another season of Nanoha out already.

"talking"

'thinking'

'_telepathy/mindspeak'_

"_Device Speaking"_

"**Demon talking"**

'**demon thinking'**

Chapter 1: A Beginning

_6 years later:_

It was a normal morning in Konoha, the non-ninja of the village waking up, shaking the sleep from their minds as they prepared for a brand new day, the Ninja of the village either waking up for their duties or happily reporting for the end of their shifts for the night and going to a much desired rest. For most of the village, there was absolutely nothing of note happening today.

For some of the village though, this was a very important day, for today was the day of the yearly Leaf Ninja Academy final exams, where aspiring ninja who had completed the four years worth of course work (or those who thought they were prepared regardless) would have the chance to become ninja of the leaf village at last. All of the students involved were looking forward to that test with a mixture of anticipation and dread as they moved about their morning routines with unusual anticipation. All of those students, that is, but one.

Thirteen year old Uzumaki Naruto awoke to a beeping noise coming from the jewel around his neck, as he had for the past six years. Yawning deeply, he got out of bed at a relaxed pace, absently mumbling "ok, ok, I'm up Dauntless." The beeping stopped as he got out of his bed and began to stretch; working the stiffness out of his body that always resulted from sleeping on his too hard mattress. Still moving tiredly, he finished those stretches and started moving about his apartment, clad for the moment only in his boxers. He took a shower and dressed himself before moving to make himself breakfast. As he poured himself some cereal, he absently asked out loud, "Dauntless, what do I have on the agenda for today?"

The green gem around his neck pulsed once with an inner light before responding in a somewhat mechanical though clearly male voice; "My lord, you have only one scheduled event for today; the academy final exam which starts at 8:00 A.M."

Naruto nodded to himself as he ate, not really reacting for a few moments before his eyes opened wide. He glanced at the clock on his counter. 7:45 A.M it read. Naruto had only one thing to say to that.

"SHIT!"

Quickly shoveling down the rest of his cereal, barely taking the time to chew it up, Naruto rushed out of his apartment, running as fast as he could to reach the academy on time. He ignored the glares and spitting that came from the villagers he passed as he ran, having long become used to it. Besides, he didn't have time to bother with them! He absolutely could not afford to be late today. After several minutes of running, the academy building came into view. As he raced through its halls, dodging senseis in the halls, he spied a clock on the wall. 7:59 it read. Reaching the correct door, he burst through it, just in time to hear Iruka-sensei, his teacher for the past two years call out; "Uzumaki Naruto?"

Panting a small amount from the cross town sprint; Naruto raised his hand.

"Here, sensei."

Iruka frowned at the boy who was alternately one of his best and worst students, but who was almost always the last one to arrive. Shaking his head a bit he said, "you need to get out of the habit of doing cutting it so close Naruto… a second later and I would have had to mark you absent and you wouldn't have been allowed to take the test. Now, take a seat."

Naruto nodded absently and did so, ignoring the snickers of some of his classmates as he did so. He was good at ignoring things like that after the amount of practice he'd had. Spying a free seat next to the eternally lazy Shikamaru, Naruto walked over and sat down. He allowed himself a small smile at the mumbled "troublesome" from the boy next to him, whose head was planted firmly on the desk in a seeming attempt to get some last minute sleep.

Naruto could understand the sentiment. He himself was no longer paying attention to Iruka as he gave one last lecture to the class, some nonsense about how proud of them all he was. Naruto had, after all, heard it all two times before, albeit only one of those times was from Iruka. The speech was the same both times, and didn't sound any different this time, so Naruto decided to instead strike up a mental conversation with Dauntless Might in his mind.

'_So, how much longer until the adjustments to the armor forms are done?' _Naruto asked.

'_Final diagnostics should be completed at 2000 hours my lord, according to the projections given to you when you requested the refit. It is projected that armor energy efficiency will be increased by approximately fifty percent, allowing for a second alpha level blast before charge cycle must be initiated,' _came the mental reply from his device.

Naruto smiled to himself at that thought, feeling satisfaction at finally completing an upgrade that he had been working on for months. The timing couldn't be more perfect either. Naruto was knocked from his thoughts when a small bit of chalk impacted his head. Giving a start, he looked up and saw Iruka glaring at him lightly. "Naruto, are you ready to take the test, or would you like to go back to sleep?" he asked in a deceptively light tone. Apologizing quickly, Naruto walked down to where Iruka was standing and followed him into the next room, ignoring the whispers around him.

The room he entered was a plain room, with a large open area in front of a table with two chairs. Iruka walked over and sat down in one chair, and sitting in the other was the other sensei for the year, Mizuki. Knowing the drill, Naruto walked to the center of the room and waited for his instructions.

"First off Naruto, I'd like to remind you that this is your third time taking this test, and if you fail this time you will be dropped from the program. Do you understand?" Iruka began. He was a bit nonplussed at Naruto's bored nod, but continued you anyway."Ok then, first please perform the Kawarimi no jutsu."

Naruto sighed lightly, as everyone in the room knew that he could perform that jutsu just fine. He knew that it was a required part of the test, but he had shown that he could do it fine both of the previous times he had done the test.

Silently he put he formed the needed hand symbol and wordlessly switched places with a chair from the corner of the room. Iruka nodded approvingly and marked something down on his clipboard. Mizuki just looked bored.

"Alright Naruto, next you need to show us the Henge no Jutsu," Iruka prompted, and Naruto again formed the right hand seal and performed the jutsu, transforming into a copy of Iruka. Iruka spent a moment looking over the transformation, nodding to himself and marking things on his clipboard as he did so, before sitting down once more. Looking up from his clipboard, he regarded Naruto with a deliberate look.

"Ok Naruto, all you have to do to pass is perform the Bunshin no Jutsu and create at least two clones of yourself. Anytime you're ready," Iruka said. Naruto put on a pained look and nodded before forming the ram seal and channeling his chakra.

"Bunshin no jutsu," he muttered under his breath, and a cloud of smoke exploded into being. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Naruto, still standing in the same position as before, now accompanied by a single sickly looking bunshin. Iruka got a disappointed look on his face as he gave his pronouncement.

"I'm sorry to say Naruto, but that bunshin just isn't good enough. You fail for the third and final time."

Naruto made a show of nodding sadly and walking dejectedly out of the door and the academy, seemingly to depressed by his ultimate failure from the ninja program to notice anything around him.

Unknown to those around him, his bowed head concealed a small grin. 'Success,' he thought to himself happily.

_That night_

It was a wonderful night as far as Naruto was concerned, quiet and calm around him as he walked through the forest leading out of Konoha. The past hours had been spent in careful preparation, in putting the finishing touches on the plan he had been trying to see to fruition since a year after his life changed forever. Now, finally, his plan was showing itself to be a success, as he finally left the place that had spat on him and treated him like shit for the stupidest of reasons.

Naruto had been looking forward to leaving Konoha since shortly after receiving Dauntless Might and beginning his education as a mage. Despite what an outside observer might think, there were actually several reasons for this. The most obvious of the reasons was, of course, a desire to escape the mindless fear and prejudice heaped upon him by the people of Konoha, as even though he had become increasingly skilled at avoiding personal injury, there was little he could do to avoid being cheated out of money or damage to what property he owned. As much as Naruto would try to deny it, the fact that his situation made it nearly impossible to make friends was also unpleasant for him.

The second reason Naruto desired to leave Konoha had to do with the fact that he had run into a dead end in his education as a mage. Since he started learning from Dauntless Might, he was lucky enough to find that several parts of the ruins beneath Konoha's old sector that allowed him to train without being watched or having to improvise to make up for knowledge gaps. However, recently, he had come up across a barrier, as the facilities under Konoha were never meant to accommodate a mage with the sheer amount of power Naruto found himself possessing. As a result of this, Naruto had accidently destroyed much of the underground sector while testing his first A-rank technique. Luckily, before doing this, Naruto had discovered mention in the archives of the old sector of similar places throughout the elemental countries, of sites built by a civilization that called itself Arianon. Thus, Naruto had a destination outside of Konoha to make leaving that much more enticing.

The final reason Naruto had decided to leave was intimately tied to the first, but much, _much_ more dangerous to him; the Konoha council. Naruto had, as the years passed, come to understand a fundamental truth of how Konoha was ruled; the Hokage, despite being the supposed most powerful person in the village, was in fact largely subject to the whims of the councils of clans and civilians that had sprung up not long after the village was founded. Naruto got the sense from what little history he had managed to pick up in spite of his teachers efforts that the Hokage used to have the supreme power the title claimed to wield, but it certainly did not anymore, as proven to Naruto by the village's disregard for the Hokage's wish that he be treated fairly. No, Naruto realized that as long as he remained in Konoha, he remained under threat from the councils, and thus his decision to leave was made final.

"My Lord, detecting energy discharge nearby. Energy identified as Chakra. What is your desired course of action?"

The voice of his device broke Naruto from his reverie, and he realized that he could barely make out the sound of metal clashing with metal and raised voices. Now, Naruto knew that it was really none of his business if whoever was making the noise decided to kill each other, not to mention the fact that he was still close to Konoha and thus there was a fair chance that whoever was fighting included at least one Konoha Nin. Encountering a ninja of Konoha would _not_ be a good thing, not when Naruto was so close to leaving the place behind him for good. Still…

"Dauntless Might, engage stealth protocols out to five feet and maintain them until I say otherwise. I think I'll indulge my curiosity just this once."

"Yes My Lord."

_A few minutes later_

Naruto didn't take long to reach the source of the chakra and noises of battle. Taking care to keep himself out of sight and trusting in his Device's ability to muffle any sounds he made, he took stock of the situation. Looking into the clearing in which the battle was taking place, his eyes widened at what he saw.

The clearing was wide and clear, at least big enough to accommodate a small house, an extreme rarity in the western forests of Konoha. At one end stood a wooden shack, old looking, but still apparently very sturdy, particularly considering that it still stood strong despite having several giant Fuma Shuriken lodged deep into the front wall. These were far from the only weapons that littered the clearing though. In several place across the field there were clusters of kunai and shuriken, most obvious misses, but a few with blood on the edge that gave away their status as grazing hits. It would be apparent even to a civilian that a battle between shinobi had taken place there, but Naruto hardly needed to see such evidence to know that. The two combatants involved were, after all, right in front of him, the cause of Naruto's widened eyes.

Iruka and Mizuki were the two fighters, darting around the clearing and occasionally clashing kunai against kunai. Both were dressed in the traditional garb of a Konoha Chunin, green flak jackets and gray clothing meant to blend into the shadowed forests around Konoha while still providing a fair measure of protection to hits that the ninja failed to dodge, along with the Hitai-ite which all ninja not undercover used to denote their status as nin (and protect their foreheads or other body part.) There were two major differences between the two combatants; the first was that Iruka was the one with the greater number of injuries, having a number of small cuts as well as a gash in his left arm. The second difference was that Mizuki's hitai-ite had a slash through the leaf symbol, the customary mark of a missing-nin. Naruto, his curiosity aroused, moved close enough to be able to hear the two ninja as they spoke between kunai clashes.

"Why are you fighting me like this Iruka," Mizuki asked, his voice showing his unhappiness. "I thought we were friends! That's why I asked you to come with me!"

"I thought we were friends too," Iruka replied, angry. "But then, I thought you were loyal to Konoha like I am! I can't believe you stole the Forbidden Scroll! Who did you even manage to do that, it's guarded by Hokage-sama himself!"

Naruto finally noticed the absolutely giant scroll propped up against the tree he was hiding by, and how Mizuki kept trying to move towards it only to be blocked by Iruka. That would explain why Iruka was losing so badly against someone Naruto had seen him beat in demonstrations before… Iruka was being forced to take hits to keep Mizuki away from the scroll! Wanting to know himself how Mizuki managed to steal a scroll guarded by the most powerful ninja in the village, Naruto refocused on the conversation/fight. He was just in time to hear the secret.

Mizuki grinned, obviously proud of the secret he was about to share. "It was _easy_! All anybody has to do to defeat our _grand_ Hokage is… surprise him by using the henge no jutsu to turn into a naked woman! He fainted with a nosebleed right away!"

Iruka nearly face-faulted in incredulity, and Naruto did do so, so shocked were they to find out that the Sandaime Hokage, the Legendary Professor and God of Shinobi, had such a stupid weakness. In fact, it was only the sound dampening field projected by Dauntless Might that prevented the noise from his impact from being noticed.

A meaty thunk and Iruka crying out in pain brought Naruto instantly back to his feet. He grimaced at what he saw before him. Taking advantage of the sheer surprise that Iruka felt upon hearing of the Hokage's weakness, Iruka had thrown a pair of Kunai that were right on the mark; that mark being Iruka's kneecaps. The scarred chunin fell to his knees, stunned by the pain and unable to stand from the damage that he had incurred. Mizuki grinned menacingly.

"Such a foolish mistake, letting such a thing distract you," Mizuki gloated. "To think that the friend I wanted to surpass would be beaten just by learning that his idol is a perverted old fool! Now, I think it's a good time to test out the other acquisition I made in the Hokage's vault."

Mizuki reached into his belt pouch and withdrew a slip of sealing paper. Still grinning, he showed its face to Iruka. The Kanji for BIG was emblazoned upon it in blood. "I found these tags by accident while I was searching for the scroll, but I am very glad I did. These tags are elemental bombs created by our late Yondaime Hokage. When they are attached to a kunai and that kunai is thrown and hits something…" Mizuki trailed off suggestively.

"Well, let's just say that there won't be anything left to bury."

Iruka had been struggling to rise despite the pain from the kunai in his legs, but the hit had been too damaging. There was no way he was going to get up in time. Still, he kept struggling. He wasn't going to give up until the end.

Naruto watched all of this, watched one of the few men who had been kind to him, even if he had never met the true Naruto, as he was about to be killed. He watched as Mizuki gloated about the tag which the Yondaime had made. He watched as the treasure of the village he had grown up in was about to be stolen.

But more than anything, he watched a man who had been kind to him continue struggling in the face of death. As Mizuki drew back his arm and threw the deadly kunai, Naruto made a split second decision.

"DAUNTLESS!"

"_Sonic Move."_

There was a flash that blinded both Iruka and Mizuki, and then the tagged kunai impacted on something and detonated. Fire raged for seven long seconds. Then the light died down, and Mizuki looked at the area of the clearing where Iruka had been prone. Smoke obscured it utterly. Patting the hip pouch that held the remaining BIG tags, he grinned before turning to collect the scroll. Then, as the smoke cleared a bit, he caught sight of a silhouette in the corner of his eye. Surprised, he turned towards it, now noticing the dark green glow emitting from the clearing smoke. Then, he heard a cultured, yet odd sounding baritone speak.

"_Force Barrier, successful._"

The smoke cleared the rest of the way, and Mizuki gasped at what he saw. Standing between him and a most certainly _not_ dead Iruka was that damned fox brat, Uzumaki Naruto. He stood upright, with one arm raised towards Mizuki and his palm open in a warding gesture.

"You," Mizuki exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here? No, wait; how the hell did you stop that explosion?""

Naruto couldn't help it. He smirked. "Why should I tell you," he asked mockingly. "It's not as if it would make a difference."

Mizuki scowled, before grinning once. This would be his chance to fuck with the brats mind, and then make good his escape. He knew he didn't have much time before the ANBU reached the clearing. The false trail he set leading to the other side of the village was sound, but an explosion like the one he had set off would make it obvious where he really was.

Grinning the same malicious grin he seemed to have become fond of, Mizuki began to speak to Naruto. "Hey, Uzumaki, would you like to know why the village hates you?"

Naruto, despite himself, did want to know. He couldn't fathom a good reason why he was so hated, and was very curious to know the truth of the matter. So, he nodded to the traitor, even ignoring the fact that Mizuki was edging towards the scroll.

Mizuki's grin widened. "You know that the Yondaime killed the Kyubi no Kitsune thirteen years ago? Well that is a lie! The beast couldn't be killed, so the Yondaime sealed it into a human baby. That baby is you, Uzumaki! YOU ARE THE KYUBI NO KITSUNE!"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock at that proclamation, which Mizuki took as a sign to continue pushing. "Yes, you are the fox! That's why everyone hates you. Even Iruka, the man you look up to so much despises your very existence!" With that tidbit, he made a break for the scroll, hoping to grab it and get away before the brat could delay him any further. Just before he would have reached it though, his legs stopped moving, looking down in shock, he saw a pair of green rings around his ankles, somehow holding him fast despite not being secured to anything. Before he knew what was happening, his wrists were bound too, and he was held in a spread eagle position a foot off the ground. Standing before him, was a visibly amused Naruto.

"Did you really think that I didn't know something was off about me?" Naruto asked mockingly. "I've been aware of something being sealed within me for some time now. I'll admit, I never would've thought it was a natural disaster given from like the Kyubi, but I'm still quite sure that it is separate from me."

"Still," Naruto continued, ignoring the increasingly frantic struggles of Mizuki, "you are right about the majority of the village hating me. That's why I was planning on leaving it tonight. It was just your bad luck that I happened to stumble upon your little crime. Yes, bad luck for you indeed. But still, this is actually rather convenient. I've just finished something, and I was looking for something to test it on. How nice of you to volunteer by trying to kill one of the few people I actually give a damn about in this village."

Naruto smiled meanly. "Watch closely Mizuki. You're about to see something that apparently hasn't been seen outside of my own observations for a _long_ time." He grasped the emerald jewel that hung from his neck, and spoke to it. "Dauntless Might, sync up."

Mizuki's thoughts that the boy was insane were instantly dispelled when the jewel pulsed brightly and replied. "_Yes, my Lord! Armor Form, Offensive Shift!"_

A bright light flashed, blinding Mizuki (and the silent but still watching Iruka) for an instant. When the light faded, Naruto's outfit was radically different. Gone were the "kill me" orange cloths, replaced by a black bodysuit overlaid with a shining green armor. The armor covered his chest area entirely, while still appearing flexible, and bore a white pentagram in a circle across the chest. The legs were lightly armored, as was the left arm. Most prominent among the armor parts was the right arm, which was covered with a wicked looking gauntlet that was covered in runes. Imbedded in the gauntlet on the back of Naruto's hand was the same gem which he had been wearing around his neck, still pulsing with bright light.

Naruto grinned, feeling the power flowing through him. The armor form which he and Dauntless Might had figured out really felt good, and it was even better with the new upgrade installed. Shifting his stance, he raised his left hand in front of his body, towards Mizuki. On the ground below him, a green pentagram within a circle and several runes appeared, slowly rotating. Before his hand a green ball of energy coalesced, quickly growing to the size of a melon.

"I hope you enjoy this demonstration Mizuki," Naruto said, "it's the last thing I expect you'll be seeing for a while! Now! _Force Spear Cannon!_"

On the last syllable, Naruto brought his left arm down and punched the ball of energy with his gauntleted right hand. There was a single instant where nothing happened, before the ball expanded suddenly before turning into a beam of energy that quickly engulfed Mizuki, as well as the trees for a good distance behind him. When the beam died away after several seconds, it revealed Mizuki on the ground bleeding but still alive. Behind him was a hole in the forest where a number of trees had fallen due to losing a part of their trunks. Panting a bit from the expenditure of energy, Naruto smiled at his handy work and walked over to the unconscious Mizuki. Without preamble he kicked the traitor in the side, smirking at the groan of pain. "Next time you try and mess with me or something I care about, I'll let you experience the full blast like I did the trees."

Putting the traitor out of his mind, Naruto turned and walked over to the still stunned silent Mizuki, his Armor Form dissipating as he did so to reveal a pair of green pants and a black shirt with a green pentagram on it, Dauntless Might now resting in gem form around his neck. Reaching Iruka, Naruto kneeled down beside him and grabbed some bandages from a pouch on his leg. As he used them to bind Iruka's wounds so a professional could get to him before he bled out, he spoke.

"Yeah, sorry I never told you about all of this sensei," he said casually. "It's just, I never could figure out how to explain it to you without you freaking out… kind of like you appear to be doing now."

Iruka snapped out of his daze at that and regarded his student with amazed eyes. This was not the class clown that he had taught for the past three years at all. This was instead a powerful young man who seemed at the same time serious and casual. Opening his mouth for the first time since Naruto had saved his life; Iruka asked the first question that came to mind.

"Did you really mean it when you said you're leaving the village Naruto?"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow in response, and spoke as he set to bandaging the second knee. "Of all the things you could ask, you're asking me that first? Figures. Yes, I meant what I said Sensei. It's not like I have much of a future in Konoha if I'm not a ninja anyway."

Iruka frowned at that, before getting an idea. "Hey Naruto, close your eyes, would you? I have a gift for you to thank you for saving my life."

Naruto was bemused at the request, but decided to comply. He heard a rustling of cloth, and felt a sense of dawning horror as he felt something be tied around his head. Opening his eyes of his own accord, he beheld Iruka, who now had a bare forehead. Feeling at his own forehead with a hand, he felt the cold metal of Iruka's hitai-ite, confirming his fears.

"Congratulations Uzumaki Naruto! You graduate!" Iruka was totally oblivious of his pupil's horror, caught up as he was in the combination of trying to ignore the pain of his wounds and being happy to have found a way to keep Naruto from having to leave Konoha. When Naruto failed to make any happy sound, or sound of any kind for that matter, Iruka looked at him and noticed his expression. Before he could say anything, Naruto raised a hand, cutting him off.

"I'm going to turn around now, walk over there, and then take this thing off and throw it back to you. I am then going to leave, and you will never speak of this again, alright?" Naruto didn't bother waiting for an answer before getting up and turning around to walk away.

Standing in a silent group watching him were ten masked members of the ANBU black ops, all of whom had seemingly been there for some time. Naruto looked at them, then closed his eyes and began to shiver. Ignoring this, the lead ANBU spoke.

"Uzumaki Naruto, the Hokage would like to speak with you. Now."

Naruto continued to shiver for a few moments, and those watching him became either concerned or perplexed. Then, without warning, Naruto raised his head to the sky and called out.

"DAMN IT!"

* * *

Meanwhile, hidden beneath some debris and undetectable by even the ANBU, a small being watched as everything unfolded. It had expressionless ruby red eyes set over a polite smile, as well as two long floppy ears and a bushy tail. Giving that tail a swish, it turned and walked away.

* * *

A/N: So yeah, like I said, I'm back. I'll also say again, that you guys shouldn't get your hopes too high… I'm not sure if this is a new trend of writing for me, or just a random fluke. I would like it to be the former, but I can't tell yet. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter, and would love it if you review to tell me what you think or to tell me what you think the observer from the end of the chapter is. a cyber-cookie for the first one to figure it out!

~Korrag


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